Moscow
Built for Patriarch Nikon mostly in the mid-17th century, the highlight of the Patriarch’s Palace is perhaps the ceremonial Cross Hall (Крестовая палата),…
Must-see attractions in Russia
Northern European Russia
One of the few parts of the island that's easily accessible on foot from the monastery is the forested Nikonovskaya area, dotted with chapels and sketes.
Russian Far East
Tynda’s pride and joy has four rooms of BAM relics and photos – sadly all devoid of English labelling – as well as exhibits on native Evenki culture, WWII…
St Petersburg
Immortalised by Dostoevsky, who lived all over the neighbourhood and set Crime and Punishment here, St Petersburg’s Haymarket was once the city’s filthy…
Moscow
Named for its Italian Renaissance stone facing, the Hall of Facets was designed and built by Marco Ruffo and Pietro Solario between 1487 and 1491, during…
Moscow
Viktor Vasnetsov was a Russian-revivalist painter, who drew inspiration from fairy tales and village mysticism. In 1894 he designed his own house in…
Moscow
Occupying the entire block of Novaya pl, this giant museum showcases the history of Russian science, technology and industry. Indeed, it has claimed to be…
Moscow
Though this renowned Russian author is more closely associated with St Petersburg, Fyodor Dostoevsky was actually born in Moscow, where his family lived…
Gorki Leninskie Museum-Reserve
Moscow
In Lenin’s later years, he and his family spent time at the Morozov manor house, set on lovely wooded grounds, 32km southeast of the capital. The estate…
Moscow
Part Russian Revival, part neo-Renaissance, this red-brick beauty was built in the 1890s as the Moscow City Hall and later served as the Central Lenin…
Western European Russia
Set over 50 hectares, photography buffs will love this huge, gorgeously creepy graveyard, with hundreds of telegenic tombstones slowly being devoured by…
St Petersburg
The new epicentre of creativity on the Fontanka River is this mazelike complex of shops, bars, cafes, beauty salons, tattoo parlours, galleries and even a…
St Petersburg
This museum near Sennaya pl is a must for train-set fans and modellers. It houses a collection of scale locomotives and model railway bridges, often made…
Western European Russia
The ruins of this ancient stone fortress are among the oldest in Russia, and from its ridge location it overlooks a beautiful slice of countryside. Inside…
Mt Bolshoy Akhun Lookout Tower
Black Sea Coast
Popular with day trippers, this 30m-high lookout tower offers great views of the Caucasus Mountains. From the entrance of Sochi National Park, follow the…
Western European Russia
Rising from a high narrow cape on the banks of the Velikaya River, Pskov's mighty kremlin (also known as the Krom) is the most complete portion of a…
Moscow
Dominated by the infamous KGB compound, Lubyanskaya pl made adults shiver in Soviet times, but children dreamed of coming here, because another stately…
Moscow
Beside (not inside) the Ivan the Great Bell Tower stands the world’s biggest bell, a 202-tonne monster that has never rung. Bas-reliefs of Empress Anna…
Land of the Leopard National Park
Russian Far East
Created in 2012 by the merger of several smaller reserves, this vast tract of forest wilderness is still slowly developing as a tourist destination, but…
Western European Russia
Pechory Monastery's eerie burial caves house some 10,000 bodies, bricked up in underground vaults. The only way to access the caves is on a tour led by…
St Petersburg
This excellent private museum tells the story of Russia’s national tipple in an interesting and fun way, from the first production of ‘bread wine’ to the…
St Petersburg
Named after Sergey Kuryokhin (1954–96), a legend of the Russian contemporary arts and music scene, this is the temporary home of the arts centre until its…
Western European Russia
At the east end of this shady garden with fountains, an 1885 statue of the composer Glinka is surrounded by a fence with excerpts from his opera A Life…
Museum of Sakhalin Island: A Book by AP Chekhov
Sakhalin Island
Based on Chekhov’s seminal account of his few months working as a doctor on Sakhalin in the 1890s, this museum provides insight not only into life on…
Northern European Russia
Painted in circus-tent stripes, the powerful fortress towers of this active 14th-century monastery are photogenically reflected in the river, best viewed…
Northern European Russia
The village of Yamka is home to extravagantly bearded Old Believers, as well as genuinely lived-in (and well-labelled) historic houses. Its pretty lake…
Moscow
The huge 'new' New Jersalem Museum is a modern, state-of-the-art museum, located across the river from the eponymous monastery. Exhibits draw on the…
Black Sea Coast
About 40km from Sochi, this chain of caves is a popular and worthwhile excursion. Some 12km of the cave system is mapped, but tourists have access to 500m…
St Petersburg
This new high-tech entertainment complex houses two theatres, a gallery, a top-floor restaurant and two bars on the ground floor. It's set in a former…
Church of the Deposition of the Robe
Moscow
This delicate single-domed church was built between 1484 and 1486 in exclusively Russian style. It was the private chapel of the heads of the Church, who…
Western European Russia
That one of Europe's largest aquariums can be found in a shopping centre in a landlocked town synonymous with Black Earth may seem a little odd, but you…
Black Sea Coast
Located in the former Olympic park, this sprawling funfair is sometimes called Russian Disneyland, with 20 'European-standard' rides (including Russia's…
Moscow
This museum is an excellent place to start when you arrive in Borodino. You can study an interactive diorama of the Battle of Borodino before setting out…
Solovetsky Forced Labour Camps & Prison 1920–1939
Northern European Russia
Inside former gulag barracks, this excellent exposition (in Russian) takes you through the different stages of the Solovetsky gulag – from punishing …
City Electrical Transport Museum
St Petersburg
A must-see if you love retro trams and trolleybuses. A handsome brick shed houses around 20 of these vehicles, both originals and replicas, that used to…
Moscow
Now housing the Russian State University for the Humanities, this elaborately decorated edifice is where Ivan Fyodorov reputedly produced Russia’s first…
Yakutsk
This park, on the site of the original hunting settlement that later became Yakutsk, contains a series of excellently preserved historic buildings that…
State Russian Museum and Exhibition Centre ROSPHOTO
St Petersburg
This gallery showcases rotating exhibitions of photography, videography and other mixed media drawn from across Russia and around the world. It’s…
Sovoletsky Stone in Honour of Gulag Victims
Northern European Russia
This 1.5m-by-1m granite stone was brought to Arkhangelsk from the Sovoletsky Islands in 1990 as a monument to the victims of Soviet-era Gulag camps…
Moscow
About the holiest of Soviet icons, this powerful monument designed by Vera Mukhina depicts a fierce-looking couple raising the hammer and sickle,…
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